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Rhythmic gene expression in pituitary depends on heterologous sensitization by the neurohormone melatonin

von Gall, Charlotte
Garabette, Martine L.
Kell, Christian A.
Frenzel, Sascha
Dehghani, Faramarz
Schumm-Draeger, Petra-Maria
Weaver, David R.
Korf, Horst-Werner
Hastings, Michael H.
Stehle, Jorg H.
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Abstract

In mammals, many daily cycles are driven by a central circadian clock, which is based on the cell-autonomous rhythmic expression of clock genes. It is not clear, however, how peripheral cells are able to interpret the rhythmic signals disseminated from this central oscillator. Here we show that cycling expression of the clock gene Period1 in rodent pituitary cells depends on the heterologous sensitization of the adenosine A2b receptor, which occurs through the nocturnal activation of melatonin mt1 receptors. Eliminating the impact of the neurohormone melatonin simultaneously suppresses the expression of Period1 and evokes an increase in the release of pituitary prolactin. Our findings expose a mechanism by which two convergent signals interact within a temporal dimension to establish high-amplitude, precise and robust cycles of gene expression.

Source

Nat Neurosci. 2002 Mar;5(3):234-8. Link to article on publisher's site

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10.1038/nn806
PubMed ID
11836530
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